


Gardenia

by Hey_There_Cowboy



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Androids have always been deviant, Comedy, Crush at First Sight, DisasterGay!Simon, Everyone Is Alive, Flirting, Florist!Simon, Fluff, Josh is done with her shit, M/M, Markus is a Pretty Man and Simon is GAY, North has big Dyke Energy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-07 00:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hey_There_Cowboy/pseuds/Hey_There_Cowboy
Summary: He's no WR600, but Simon makes due in his little nursery and flower shop,The Gardenia. But when a beautiful man walks into his store, Simon can't help himself but look.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I did a little poll on my [tumblr](https://thatfunkylesbianwriter.tumblr.com/) so here we are

Simon worked tirelessly, from morning to night, at cutting, arranging, and perfecting all 150 vases of flowers that were ordered for a wedding at the last minute. It was one of the perks of being an android, setting an objective for yourself and it driving every little moment of your existence until it was finished. 

Although, it didn’t keep the little burn of annoyance in Simon from coming up. Ordering flowers weeks, evens months, ahead of time for a wedding would be the decent thing to do, yet these had to be done in three days along with little flower crown arrangements. But Simon couldn’t turn down the extra money they offered for the inconvenience. That didn't stop him from adding basil as a small filler in the vases. 

It was his second day on this project, and he was right on time to complete the entire order by that night. By the next morning, Simon would send them on a delivery truck and return to normalcy in his little shop. 

_No distractions, none at all._

The bell attached to the front door rang as someone entered the space, and Simon’s program twitched at the damnable noise. Lingering at the last vase to check for any imperfections, Simon switched off the objective in his system to avoid the incessant blinking to remain on task and walked from the workroom that sat behind the counter. He could only see the back of the potential customer mulling about, surrounding themselves in the plant-crowded space. 

Patience was something Simon always had, so he’d wait. He’d wait despite the small timer in the back of his mind, counting down the hours, minutes, seconds, milliseconds that he was losing by being patient.

Any other day, Simon would have patience. 

Deciding to take matters in his own hands, Simon wiped his hands against the dark, heavy material of his apron and left the counter to find the seemingly lost customer. Brushing past ferns, elephant ears, and silver bays, the android effectively located the male customer standing in front of the wall refrigerators that kept the flowers fresh. Upon hearing someone approach, the customer- an android, Simon determined with a quick scan- turned and smiled warmly at Simon. His programming stuttered at sight before him. 

He was beautiful; completely and utterly beautiful with a soft smile and mismatched eyes that caused a random search in Simon’s mind to place the colors, _Forget-Me-Nots and Sedum Treleasei._ It didn’t help that he was wearing a crisp suit that hugged all the right places of his strong form and Simon couldn’t believe that he was looking at a customer’s butt-- 

Simon cleared his throat, “Hello, how can I help you?” 

“Well, I’m visiting someone at the hospital,” the man seemed to have caught a microexpression of worry from Simon as he continued with a waved hand, “He’s completely fine, he’s just an old man, that’s all.” 

“That’s good to hear,” Simon almost choked on his words as the other android’s voice seemed to wash over him like a calm wave, “I assume you want to get him a ‘get well’ bouquet?” 

“Yes, yes that would be perfect!” The stranger smiled, and a hopeful look made his brows crinkle, “But can you help me pick? I might be hooked up to the internet, but I don’t know a where to begin about picking out flowers.”

The clock ticking down the time on Simon’s urgent project fuzzed out into static at the sweet smile, and he nodded, moving forward to the refrigerators. He stood next to the man, who was approximately one inch and three centimeters taller than him, but he still felt small. He commanded the space and Simon felt like he probably could lead thousands into rebellion with a face like that. 

Simon scanned the rows and rows of flowers before reaching into one of the refrigerators and taking a handful of deep violet chrysanthemums. He then motioned for the man to follow him to a large work table where he placed the flowers. In a moment of hesitation, Simon plucked a few strands of broad-leaved sage and set them next to the bundle before working quickly at snipping away at the stems. 

The stranger’s gaze on Simon as he worked was distracting, and he almost pinched himself between the handle of the hand pruner. As if he could sense Simon’s discomfort, the other android turned away from the station to examine the succulents that hung in glass teardrops. 

“Have you had this place long?” 

“Just for two months, I had another place south of here near the docks,” Simon mused, focusing on the delicate flowers at hand instead of the stranger’s sharp profile. 

“What happened there?” the stranger looked to him again, curiosity lacing his voice. 

“Flooding, unfortunately,” Simon carefully wrapped the bunch of flowers in the crinkly brown paper before finishing it off with a little string and a tight knot. 

The android’s eyebrows shot up, and he frowned, “I’m sorry about that.”

Simon shrugged as he slipped a business card into the stems, “It serves me right for not doing my research on the area before moving in. But being in the city is a better location anyways.” 

Before the other android could say anything else, Simon handed him the bouquet, “Hopefully your friend will like these.”

The frown melted from his face, no doubt scanning the flowers as he held them with hands that seemed to have no imperfections in them, so different from Simon’s that always had dirt and grime on them. The man plucked the card out from the stems and read it over before a small smile grew on his lips. 

“They’re beautiful, Simon, thank you,” 

He couldn’t tell which, but some biomechanic, or maybe all of them, tightened at the sound of his name on the stranger’s lips. Simon hoped he wasn’t blushing too hard as the thirium in his body rushed through artificial veins. 

The stranger moved to complete a transaction with him, but Simon snapped himself out of his stupor and shook his head, “If your friend likes them, you can come back and pay for them.” 

_When did he get that smooth?_

This time, the stranger hesitated. A look of confusion, curiosity, and mirth flicked across his face before he nodded, “I hope he does; I quite like it in here.” 

And he left, a flurry of beauty and mystery in Simon’s mind. The shopkeeper could’ve been doing that order that he was so stressed over, but he consequently forgot as a single question bogged his mind. 

_What was that man’s name?_


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking about making more oneshots based around this AU, what do you guys think?
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy DisasterGay!Simon and BigDickEnergy!Markus

Simon spent the next two days puttering around his little shop. What was he thinking? If he had taken the stranger’s money, he would’ve gotten a receipt, money, and a name, more importantly. If he had just gotten a name then maybe he could’ve… done something, right?

The android snipped away at the dead and dried up leaves of various plants in the effort to distract himself. This was what he was good at, taking care of his plants and shop, navigating multiple brides’ “ideal” flower arrangements, and working hard with little thanks. Simon was good at being an independent man that did what he needed to get by. He rarely spoiled himself, and anything he did get was for his business. 

But did the heart _yearn_ for something more. 

The android let out probably his twentieth sigh that day as he went through his daily chores. Simon rounded the corner of the massive island that sat in the middle of the space and came to the front of the shop, coming back to the two figures that occupied the area. 

“If you keep sighing like that I’m going to punch you in the dick,” the threat came from a shorter, redheaded android named North. She sat on top of a workspace counter, thumbing through her phone as her legs dangled off the side. 

“Do you always have to be so aggressive?” another voice came from another seated android, Josh, behind the counter, wrinkling his nose at the back of her head. 

Simon hoped that his two friends would be good company for him, the heavy rain outside decreasing the chance of customers by 27%, but it always slipped his mind that they were like oil and water when placed in the same room. North was too quick to antagonize while Josh was no better with sarcastic and petty remarks. Regardless of their faults, they were Simon’s closest and only friends in the city. 

Simon walked to the back of the front counter to take a seat next to Josh and leaned forward, planting his face into his hands and groaned loudly. Checking his internal clock, it was only two hours after he opened the shop and he had finished every project and chore that was supposed to keep him busy. To keep him from thinking about those beautiful mismatched eyes and a strong jaw and broad shoulders- 

North chuckled, “Prince Charming still hasn’t come around yet?” 

“Mmmno,” Simon mumbled and pressed his hands to his face harder. Maybe if he kept pushing, he’d compress himself so much that he’d turn in a pretty little diamond devoid of his lonely existence. 

“You should’ve asked for his name, dumbass,” she retorted, still thumbing through her phone. 

Josh snapped the book in his hands closed, “I agree, you would’ve saved yourself from some amount of stress. Why didn’t you?” 

“I don’t know!” Simon cried, “I was trying to be… cool, I guess?” 

North laughed, obviously very amused by his distress, and he groaned into the cold surface of the countertop. The android to his side patted his shoulder and gave North a deadly look, “You’re not helping, you know.”

“How do I help Si if he dug his own grave?”

“You can at least be a little sympathetic,” 

“Sympathetic? Dude, when have I ever been nice when one of you make a dumbass move?” 

“When have you ever been nice?” 

Simon continued groaning as Josh and North launched themselves into a shouting match, her phone and his book forgotten. He was content to continue wallowing, but a message went off in Simon’s vision, notifying him there was a customer outside the store. He couldn’t leap up any faster to his feet and hush his friends as the front door chimed open, letting in a very wet individual from the storm. 

He could feel every part of his artificial body tighten as the man’s beautiful eyes met his, the need to reach out and _touch_ as rivets of water ran down the sides of his face and catching on his eyelashes. 

_He came back…_

“Si, we’re gonna go,” he hardly registered North’s voice as she slipped past him with a wide shit-eating grin on her face, “catch you later!” 

The stranger stepped aside sheepishly as the two androids moved out of the shop, the door closing with a resounding clunk. They stared at each other in the thick of the silence, the stranger creating puddles at his feet from his dripping black trench coat. Simon remembered to breathe as a notification for a rise in his temperature came into view. 

He was still as beautiful from Simon’s memories. 

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry about the mess I’m making right now,” the man shuffled a bit in his spot. 

His voice snapped Simon out of whatever lovesick headspace he was in and rushed around the counter, “N-no you’re fine, there are drains on the floor just in case I spill something. Here, let me.” 

Simon could feel his face get hotter and hotter as he helped the stranger out of his trench coat and placed it on the coat hanger that sat carried his own still drying jacket. His sensors picked up traces of cologne from it, and Simon had to physically stop himself from leaning in to smell it. 

_Don’t be weird, don’t be weird, don’t be weird._

The man’s shoes squeaked on the floor as he moved forward with Simon to the front counter, “Carl, my friend, liked your flowers, but he did have a question about them.”

“Oh?” 

“He was wondering if you were always so straightforward with your bouquets,” the man’s lips pulled into a knowing smile. 

The shop owner stood at the counter for a second with his hands clasped together and then it hit him. The chrysanthemums were an easy choice, considering that they meant good health and fortune for your elders, but he really sent the message of old by adding the sage to it. Did he really make a pun with flowers in hopes of seeming interesting to this stranger? 

Simon let out a shaky laugh as he wrung his hands, “I hope I didn’t offend him too much.” 

“No no,” the man gave him a dazzling smile, “I hadn’t heard him laugh that hard in a while when I gave him the flowers. Although, I suppose there are some fees to be dealt with though.” 

With that the man lent out a hand and Simon could feel his thirium pump almost jump out of place. After a pause, he jerked his own hand forward, and the pale expanse of his synthetic skin retracted slowly up his forearm. 

_Don’t. Be. Weird._

The man closed the gap and clasped Simon’s hand in a handshake position, opening up the connection for a transaction to be made. It wasn’t an intimate touch like other androids had shared with glowing joints, but Simon couldn’t keep his thirium pump from racing in his chest. He went through all the motions of drawing up the payment due and the receipt, but he could barely keep his attention off from how the man’s—Markus’s, according to the receipt, hand completely enveloped his. Whatever he was designed to do, Simon guessed he was supposed to be good with his hands, play piano or violin, maybe even paint.

“Markus,” Simon breathed out before realizing his fumble, “um, you only need to pay for one.” 

The other android’s hand squeezed his ever so slightly as he smirked, “I actually need your help again to make another bouquet.” 

Simon nodded his head and retracted his hand once the transaction ended, missing the warmth that radiated from Markus. He could feel that warmth across his face as he walked back to the refrigerators. Maybe if he stuck his head in one of them the reminder to breathe and overheating warning in his vision might go away. 

“What did you have in mind?” 

Markus came to stand just behind Simon’s right shoulder, “What kind of flowers would you pick out to ask someone on a date?” 

Simon nearly choked.

“Um, roses are always, uh,” _breathe, breathe, BREATHE_ , “a classic choice.” 

“But what would you want to see, Simon?” the innocence in Markus’s question threw him off, but when he peeked up at the other android, there was a teasing glint in his eyes. Something clicked in Simon at the sight. 

_Two can play this game._

Taking a deep breath, Simon willed himself to have a steady voice as he scanned the various flowers, _here goes nothing_ , “Daffodils are for new beginnings, but they’re a little too… innocent for me. Red carnations are nice, admiration and, uh, longing.” 

Simon could feel Markus’s hum from how deep it came from inside his chest. The shopkeeper reached into the fridge and plucked a single orange flower with a green-tinted middle from the bunch, twirling it by the stem to do something with his hands as he returned back to the man’s side. 

“But ranunculuses have to be my favorite,” Simon smiled as he admired the soft petals that piled together in a little bundle, “Very straightforward in their meaning.” 

“And that is?” Markus’s voice brought Simon’s eyes to meet with his own bright and curious ones. They were so close that he could see the almost yellow tinge in the lighter part of the man’s green eye and the freckles that spread across his nose and cheeks. 

“You’re attractive,” Simon replied without fully realizing what left his mouth. 

Markus’s eyes widened, his tawny skin around his cheeks grew a bit blue, and Simon could die right there. Melt into a puddle and slither away into one of the drains in the floor to never be seen again. Yes, that is precisely what Simon wanted right at that moment.

"I mean- you're not- I mean you are attractive," he sputtered, looking down at the flower in his hands to focus on trying not to break the stem and hide his own burning face, “I-I’m sorry, this is awkward-” 

A deep chuckle cut off Simon’s rambling, and suddenly the flower was plucked from hands. The shopkeeper watched in mute surprise as Markus brought it up to his face to examine it carefully, smell the bud, and smile. He could still see the blush across his cheeks, and Simon felt like he was dying, literally dying. 

“Well, Simon, I’m glad because,” Markus tilted his head to the side and reached to place the flower behind Simon’s ear, fingertips brushing his cheek so slightly it made his skin tingle, “I think you’re very attractive as well.” 

Nope, this was what it felt like to die. 

_“Oh-”_

Markus smile faltered, “If I misunderstood the situation-”

“No! No, you didn’t,” Simon cleared his throat, “I’m just not, um, good, per say, at this stuff.” 

“If it helps, I thought so much about how I would go about seeing you again without it making it seem strange that I wasted two days,” Markus rubbed the back his neck with a hand, “Carl called me an idiot.” 

Simon snorted, “I don’t think either of us is very good at this.” 

The other android gave a low chuckle but caught Simon’s eye again. A hopeful look softened his striking eyes, “I really do mean it though, I would like to ask you out on a date if that’s alright with you?” 

Simon was surprised at how vulnerable the tall android was in this moment. And he thought he was the shy one, Markus was practically blushing from cheek to ear tip. _Maybe this could work out…_

__“It's more than alright with me,” Simon smiled and Markus practically _beamed_._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~my gf wanted this to end with Markus eating Simon's ass but im not Ready yet my dudes~~

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Gardenia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17314598) by [marianas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marianas/pseuds/marianas)




End file.
